Through the years: John F. Kennedy

President John F. Kennedy addresses the press, circa 1963. His life was brief, but it was punctuated by major military and political accomplishments. Kennedy remains one of the most popular presidents in U.S. history, and his legacy, spirit and style have endured fore more than 50 years after his death.

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President John F. Kennedy addresses the press, circa 1963. His life was brief, but it was punctuated by major military and political accomplishments. Kennedy remains one of the most popular presidents in U.S. history, and his legacy, spirit and style have endured fore more than 50 years after his death.

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John Fitzgerald Kennedy, as a baby, sits in the sand at Nantasket Beach in Massachusetts, circa 1918. Born in Brookline, Mass., on May 29, 1917, he was the second son of Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy.

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John F. Kennedy, 10, poses for a portrait with his hair slicked back in 1927. Kennedy attended Edward Devotion School, Noble and Greenough Lower School and the Dexter School through the fourth grade.

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The Kennedy clan in 1931 in Hyannis Port, Mass. The future president is in the top left corner, wearing a white shirt.

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Kennedy recovers from jaundice in a London hospital, 1937. Kennedy enrolled at Harvard University in 1936, graduating cum laude with a bachelor of science in international affairs in 1940. His senior thesis became the book "Why England Slept."

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Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., center, and his two oldest sons: Joseph Jr., left, who died in action during World War II, and future President John F. Kennedy, right, circa 1939.

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Portrait of John F. Kennedy, in his U.S. Navy uniform, circa 1940. During the war, Kennedy served as a PT boat commander in the Pacific, earning medals for rescuing most of his crew after their boat was torpedoed in action.

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Captain of the "patrol torpedo" boat PT-109 in 1943, Kennedy almost died when a Japanese destroyer collided with the boat, killing two crewmen and leaving 11 stranded in the Pacific Ocean. They swam to Coral Island, where Kennedy carved the following distress message into a coconut: "NAURO ISL COMMANDER . . . NATIVE KNOWS POS'IT . . . HE CAN PILOT . . . 11 ALIVE NEED SMALL BOAT . . . KENNEDY." Kennedy was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his leadership and his injuries qualified him for a Purple Heart.

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Kennedy poses for a photo in his Navy hat circa 1944 after his PT-109 heroism in the Pacific. He served in the U.S. Navy from September 1941 to April 1945.

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Kennedy sitting with his maternal grandfather, the former mayor of Boston, John F. Fitzgerald, "Honey Fitz," and Joe Kennedy Sr., circa 1946.

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Convinced by his father to run for Congress, Kennedy won Massachusetts eleventh congressional district in 1946. He served in Congress for six years before he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1952.<br><br>
Rep. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts poses for a portrait in 1950.

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Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Jacqueline Bouvier of Newport, R.I., pose for a portrait in Hyannis Port, Mass., shortly after their engagement was announced. They married on Sept. 12, 1953, in Newport, in what was considered one of the most elaborate weddings of the season.

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John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy leave St. Mary's Church. Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953. Journalist Charles L. Bartlett had introduced the two when Kennedy served in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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Sen. John F. Kennedy poses for a portrait in 1955.

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Sen. John F. Kennedy appears on "Face the Nation," July 1, 1956. He had just written "Profiles in Courage," a book about eight senators who risked their careers for the sake of their beliefs. His book received the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1957.

Sen. John F. Kennedy and brother Robert F. Kennedy confer in a hallway, Aug. 4, 1959.

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Presidential candidate Jack Kennedy confers with his brother and campaign organizer Robert "Bobby" Kennedy in a Los Angeles hotel suite, July 1, 1960. He was obtained the official nomination of the Democratic party on July 13.

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American politician and Democratic Party presidential nominee John F. Kennedy poses with a group of delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, July 13, 1960.

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Sen. John F. Kennedy delivers a campaign speech, Oct. 25, 1960, in St. Charles, Ill. On Nov. 8, Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history.

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President-elect John F. Kennedy walks to church with his daughter, Caroline, on her third birthday, Washington, D.C., Nov. 27, 1960. Afterward Kennedy went to Georgetown Hospital to visit his wife and their newborn son, John Jr.

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President-elect John F. Kennedy and President Dwight Eisenhower leave the White House for Capitol Hill before Kennedy's swearing-in ceremony, Jan. 20, 1961.

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John F. Kennedy delivers his inaugural address, Jan. 20, 1961. Seated behind him are Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon, the man he defeated. In his address, he told the crowd, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

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In an image shot from a TV screen, John F. Kennedy takes the Oath of Office at his inauguration, Jan. 20, 1961. Lyndon B. Johnson is on the far right. Kennedy was the first Catholic and the youngest person to win the U.S. presidency.

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Kennedy pays an official visit to Paris, greeting the staff at the American Embassy, June 1, 1961.

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President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev meet at the American ambassador's residence in Vienna, June 3, 1961.

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President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson listen to a presentation at Cape Canaveral, Fla., Sept. 11, 1962. Among those pictured are, front row, NASA administrator James Webb, LBJ, German-born rocket scientist and NASA launch operations director Kurt Debus, JFK and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.

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President Kennedy signs Proclamation 3504 in the Oval Office of the White House, Oct. 23, 1962. The proclamation, titled "Interdiction of the Delivery of Offensive Weapons to Cuba," was issued on the eighth day of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

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President Kennedy with his daughter, Caroline, on the family yacht, circa 1962. That year Kennedy faced one of the greatest challenges of his presidency, the Cuban Missile Crisis, a volatile, close-to-the-brink 13-day standoff in which the world teetered on the edge of thermonuclear war. Kennedy's cool-headed handling of the crisis did much to bolster his popularity.

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The president kisses his ailing father, Joseph P. Kennedy, who suffered a stroke in 1961, on the forehead in Hyannis Port, circa 1962.

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President John F. Kennedy making a speech, Oct. 13, 1963.

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Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy and President John F. Kennedy at a breakfast in Fort Worth, Texas, on the morning of Nov. 22, 1963.

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President Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy mingle with the crowd at Love Field in Dallas, Nov. 22, 1963.

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Texas Gov. John Connally adjusts his tie, and President Kennedy and the first lady, dressed in her iconic pink suit, settle into the back seat, preparing for the motorcade into Dallas from the airport, Nov. 22, 1963. This was one of the last color images of Kennedy.

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The funeral procession carrying President John Fitzgerald Kennedy's casket crosses the Lincoln Memorial Bridge over the Potomac River to Arlington National Cemetery, Nov. 25, 1963. The riderless horse, Blackjack, symbolizes a fallen leader and trails the caisson carrying the casket.